How thick is the fog?

First - a couple of differences.  I've had chronic Lyme Disease and sleep apnea.  People in the CFS and LD world have "brain fog" rather than "Fibro fog".  I think it's basically the same stuff.

So I started off with a neuro exam that included MRI and EEG.  I was not having a great day and the Neuro could see I was having problems.  So he referred me to a neuropsychologist for testing.  Neuropsychologists get post doc training and their specialty is identifying - and quantifying - just where cognitive deficits are.  In some cases they are able to identify medical conditions and are able to determine if deficits are depression related or not.  The neuropsych test is a medical procedure and is not considered psychological testing.  An important distinction cause the test will probably be covered by insurance.  Most ins. won't cover psychological tests. 

They use a whole battery of standarized tests.  Like 6 - 7 hrs.  Kind of like a SAT on steroids.  They evaluate your total mental functioning - attention, memory, processing speed, math skills, vocab, executive funtions like orgainizing and more. 

So when you get thru - a week later you get the results.  It gives an objective measure of where/ how much any deficits are.  In my case, I had deficits in problem solving and very severe deficit in processing speed.  I thought the problem was memory, but it turns out it's processing speed.  There was other stuff that didn't reality check either. 

I've had a very good academic background, Master's, and worked as a high functioning engineer for 35 yrs.  So the neuropsych put it in perspective this way - "If you'd had a stoke, came in to get these tests to see if you could go back to work, and had results that looked like this - I'd tell you no."  He said he's going to do a very detailed write up and say that my combination of deficits is disabling.

So, one thing Stacey could do is the neuropsych testing (or anyone else that needs to know what's going on).  You're justing starting out and wish to pursue a career that requires a high level of functioning.  Rather that wonder - and worry - about it, it would be better to get some test results.  Then you will have objective information that you can use to make realistic decisions about your situation.

It's better to know, right?  Making realistic plans is far better than getting totally discouraged and giving up, or being unrealistic and expecting a fairy tale ending.

Life isn't fair and doesn't come with guarantees.  For me it's definitely "Plan B" time.  My wife took it harder than I did - but I've had to deal with the problems day in and day out.  The challenge is still the same tho - how do I make the most of what I've got.

Look at Sue (Statgeek)!  She has taken on several things, over the past several months, that she was really concerned about.  The most recent was her job interview.  Her fog was bad but she was under so much stress.  She did the interview and ended up with the job...fibro fog and all!  I'm so proud of her.  She didn't stop and is reaching her goals.  We have many members doing things like this but she was the first to come to my mind.

I know the following isn't about fog but it does show the human spirit in action.  That is the story of Helen Keller.  When I stop to think of her, she was truly astounding.  She was blinded and and lost her hearing at the age of two because of an illness.  So, she hadn't really learned speech or seen that much of the world.  People like that would end up institutionalized at that time but her parents didn't give up.  With the help of her teacher, she learned sign language and could "see".  She ended up graduating from Radcliffe, with honors, when she was 24, she had speaking engagements all over the world and wrote many books, to boot!  That is the human spirit in action!

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is don't give up on your dreams.  Fibromyalgia doesn't affect your IQ and I'm sure you have loads to offer this world!  I know you help a lot here.

Sherrine

Sandi, you have been through a lot.  It is frustrating knowing that you know things but you just can't pull them out.  I get frustrated, too, but most of the time I just accept the fact that it's fibro.  I might as well, since there isn't anything I can do about it.

I had excellent grades throughout school and college and taught school before I started raising a family.  I know I am not dumb but, when I had to check my checkbook to give someone my phone number, it does make you wonder!    

My fog is worse when I'm in more pain.  I'll have good times and bad times with the cognitive memory issues.  Sometimes it amazes me what I remember and other times I can't remember a word.  I know the word, it's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't pull it out and I used to feel so stupid.  My friends would look at me like I was getting senile (I'm 62) and I even had a friend suggest to me to start doing brain exercises.  That's embarrassing.  But, I explained that this is caused by a cognitive memory problem associated with fibromyalgia and that shut them up.  They don't question me now.  That worked wonders!    

I do have a positive outlook on life.  I do hope for the best...even though my life operates under Murphy's Law.  I just keep moving forward and keep hoping for the best and it does help the pain and I rarely have any depression because of it.  As I said before, since I can't control what is going on, it's just best for me and my pain to let it go and move forward.

Sherrine